Claire’s hand was gripping mine so hard I was sure I had lost blood flow. We were practically running through the jungle towards where we had spotted the smoke’s existence. The smoke had been fairly far away from where our camp was, there was now doubt we would have never discovered it without going to the mountain. 

The smoke had appeared on the edge of the trees, so I knew they would be somewhere on the beach like me and Claire had done. How could we have not met up somewhere?

Claire stumbled over palm leaves as I pulled her through the forest, my heart was pumping with adrenaline as we neared sand. This was it, I was only praying it wasn’t crazy as natives that could inhabit this island, then we would be dead. 

What if it was Mallory?

Oh God, please let it be Mallory… I couldn’t contain the pain and longing to see my best friend. I knew I shouldn’t assume it was her, but there was that little glimmer of hope, and it would stick with me until the truth was revealed. 

Soon we ran into a little camp, it wasn’t as big as ours but it was pretty well sized, made out of palm leaves and branches. I spotted on suitcase lying open in the hot sand as the fire crackled next to it. No one was around, which made me wonder.

Why would they leave a fire unattended?

Then suddenly I was shoved into the ground, face first into the hot sand as Claire fell next to me. I turned over, holding up my hands for protection, “No, stop!”

I looked into the face of someone I recognized, well, two faces I recognized. Tyler’s voice rang out first, “Alex? Claire?”

My heart nearly broke in sadness as I realized it wasn’t Mallory, the tears were barely held back.

He held out his hand, helping me up as Claire was being helped up by Hunter. I spoke, “Why’d you shove us?”

“You scared us, we heard you coming but we didn’t know who it was. We ambushed you, but God are we glad to see you guys!”

I had been close to Tyler and Hunter my Junior year, but we hadn’t had classes together this year so we had stopped talking a bit. Reuniting with them here, well, it was a life saver, and I couldn’t be happier we weren’t alone. 

“You guys want some food? Water?”

We sat on two logs they had that apparently subbed for chairs, and I nodded, “Please, we’ve been traveling all day.”

“Where are you two camping out?”

I pointed down the beach, “About two or three miles down, we hiked to the mountain to get a look out, saw the smoke and came running here in hopes of discovering more people.”

Hunter spoke, “And here we are.”

We laughed to ourselves, taking meat that wasn’t fish and swallowing it. They must’ve killed a rabbit or something, but I didn’t want to ask. Hunter and Tyler were just as dark as us, if not darker, their bare chests glowing with sweat. Their hair was getting long to, as it hung in front of Hunter’s eyes, and Tyler’s was being held back with a headband. 

“You guys wanna stick around tonight? We have plenty of food and water, you two can take the den.”

I shook my head, not even bothering to ask Claire, “Nah, we have to get back to our camp and get our things. You guys should check out or camp tomorrow, just head that way down the beach.”

They nodded, “Sounds good, we’ll bring supplies.”

We stayed a bit longer, talking and explaining how we had both gotten here. Apparently when the plane crashed me and Claire had been knocked out for some time, we were one of the last ones to make it out alive. Hunter and Tyler had made it out almost immediately, clinging to a suitcase and drifting to the island, me and Claire had been behind them at least an hour. 

Soon me and Claire were heading back to camp, I stunk with sweat and sand was clinging to me like the sun’s heat. I wanted to bathe, and I couldn’t wait till we got back because that’s exactly what I was planning on doing.

I spoke to Claire, “Want to bathe tonight? I am, I stink.”

She smiled, “I bet you just want to look at me naked again.”

I rolled my eyes, laughing, “You’re so conceited.”

She shoved me, “Am not.”

“Are to.”

Finally we made it back, grabbing a towel, soap, and fresh clothes. I began stripping, unaware if Claire was looking at me or not as I threw my dirty clothes onto a rock and squirted soap into my palm. I made my way into the cool water, feeling my body cool as it wrapped around me. The water hole was pretty deep, but it covered me right under my boobs, but it was different for Claire. 

That’s why she went to the shallow part, but she didn’t try hiding herself today as she began washing. 

I tried not to get to distracted as I cleaned myself but I couldn’t help it, her body was just so inviting. The first time we had sex popped into my head, and soon I was wanting that again. I scrubbed myself clean, dipping and rinsing off my dirty clothes and throwing them back onto land. 

And Claire turned around, catching me looking at her, but she didn’t say anything. I swam my way over to her, feeling her body heat catch me as I got closer. Soon my arms were wrapped around her waist, and I spoke, “You’re right.”

She whispered, “About what?”

“I did want to see you naked again.”

She blushed, and my arms tightened around her waist as I pulled her into me, meshing our bodies together. My lips found hers as I gripped the back of her neck in my hand, bringing her into me. I felt her smooth body against mine, immediately knowing she had shaved recently, which was even more inviting to me. 

I wrapped my hand in her long hair, realizing it had grown quite a bit since we got here. She kissed my neck, sending shivers down my spine as she wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me into her. 

She spoke, “This wasn’t predictable.”

I smiled, “I try not to be.”

She pulled back, giving me room to see her as she smiled playfully, “I don’t wanna do this here, knowing Hunter and Tyler are out there.”

I didn’t know how to take that, they were miles away from us, but I wasn’t going to argue. We dried off and got dressed, making our way back to the camp as our hands never detached. We crawled into the den, zipping it shut and laid next to each other of the bed of clothes. 

I kissed her quietly, “I’m glad you told me how you felt about me.”

She smiled, “Feel about you, not felt.”

“Sorry.”

She crawled on top of me, straddling my waist as she kissed me on my neck, “Don’t be.”

I didn’t restrain this moan as it exited through my lips, inviting Claire to continue doing what she was doing. Soon I was naked again, and so was she as we began doing what I had been longing for, for a long time. Her touch, her kiss, her moans… they were all something I had been craving since I left. 

I didn’t know how much time had passed, I had gotten completely lost in Claire and I didn’t even realize it had probably been hours. Soon we had fallen asleep, to physically exhausted as we collapsed next to each other in the den. 

Her body was curled into mine, and it felt good, it felt right, like it should be like this. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer to me as I threw blankets of clothes over us to keep us warm, including the ones we had stripped ourselves of.

I just couldn’t believe how perfect it had felt.

~ ~ ~ ~

I woke up the next morning with Claire getting redressed, smiling as she realized I had seen her naked, which wasn’t a big deal anymore. She bent down, kissing me, “Good morning.”

I grabbed clothes ands began slipping them back on, “Morning.”

She unzipped the camp, revealing sunlight and heat as I followed her out. I didn’t know what to expect but everything seemed normal between us, maybe this was a new beginning. 

She began lighting a fire, setting the glass lens down back in the tent where we usually kept them just in case. “Last night… it was perfect.”

I shrugged, “Was it? I thought it was ok.”

She shoved me, seeming hurt, “Wow.”

I pulled her into me, kissing her neck and whispering, “I’m just kidding, it really was. You’re perfect.”

She shook her head, “No, I’m not.”

“You are to me.”

My response kind of stopped her in her tracks, and I could see the feelings in her eyes this time when I looked at her. She knew I meant it, and I did, sure, she had hurt me in the past, but she stuck with me through this entire time we were stuck here, never leaving my side. 

Maybe she had changed for the better. 

She rested her head on my shoulder, “Thank you.”

I smiled, rubbing her knee as we waited for Hunter and Tyler to show, “No problem.”

“Hey girls! We brought breakfast!”

Claire’s head was removed immediately from my shoulder, her knee completely out of reach now. It shocked me, and startled me as well, and I didn’t understand. 

Had she not wanted to be seen touching me?

I figured then it was probably only because they had startled her, so I ignored my raging thoughts as Hunter and Tyler began setting up a cooking gadget they had brought. 

I looked at Claire, trying to figure out what had just happened, hoping she would at least give me some sort of eye contact saying she didn’t mean it that way. 

But she didn’t, and suddenly I realized that maybe, Claire hadn’t changed after all, and  she was still that confused little girl that didn’t want to be labeled “Lesbian”.

And it hurt me, a lot.